The spinmeisters must be earning so much money by helping the campaigns in US presidential elections. How these masters at double-entendres or double-talk, half-truths and pure fabrications can stomach what they do is beyond me. It is simply unethical, to say the least.

Worse, how could people, especially media people, propagate the yarns of these spinmeisters, is simply disgusting. Do these spinmisters and their media colleagues truly believe that people are so gullible and stupid?

MCCAIN AS ANTI-BUSH

For the life of me, I could not think how the Republicans or McCain himself could possibly distance himself from Bush when he has been Bush’s number one supporter in the Senate when it comes to the Iraq war. And he trumpets his “victory with the Surge” all the time. In fact, his foreign policy is centered on the Surge and the Iraq war. He said that he wanted US to stay in Iraq for 100 years, if need be.

In fact, he sounds even more hawkish than Bush. He wants to form his own mini-United Nations that would counter Russia, China and other “unfriendly” nations. In effect, he is recommending the ingredients for a new war, a third world war.

How could he project himself as anti-Bush if he kept on repeating that the economy was good and strong? Thus, when the credit bubble burst, he fell flat on his face.

WRONG FUNDAMENTALS

Again and again, McCain proclaimed that the US economy was fundamentally strong. In a Barack Obama ad, it said the according to McCain, “the economy is fundamentally strong.” The ad went to say that McCain is “fundamentally wrong”. The CNN FACT CHECK segment said that Obama’s ad was FALSE because McCain did not say the economy was fundamentally strong. He said, the “economy is strong on fundamentals.”

Excuse me? Is there a difference?Obama’s ad simply turned the noun fundamental into an adverb. From the ad’s statement “the economy is fundamentally strong”, one can ask, “strong on what?” And without any additional information, the answer could only be “strong on fundamentals.”

Obama’s ad is not false at all. It is fundamentally correct. CNN made a false accusation.

Even before the so-called Stock Market Meltdown, the people could already see that the US economy was in a mess. McCain therefore had to clarify what he meant by “fundamentals”.

To my amazement, his advisers could only come up with a very stupid answer. He says that by fundamentals he meant that the American workers are very good, the best in the world and that he has a very strong belief in the resilience and greatness of the American worker.

LABOR- McCAIN’S STRONG FUNDAMENTAL

For a republican party candidate to say that Labor (as represented by the American worker) is the strong card of US economy is quite ironic. Republicans don’t care about labor or labor organizations or labor unions. They are the adversaries of Republican moneymen – the capitalists and executives.

Labor is just one factor of economic production. The other two – land and capital are surely nearer to the heart of most Republicans. Most labor organizations are traditionally Democrats.

The aspirations of the American worker – as represented by labor organizations or unions – are traditionally the moving force behind the Democrat party. On the other hand, landowners and capitalists are the traditional Republican supporters.

And the current financial crisis is all about LAND (real estate and housing) and CAPITAL (financial markets, banks, insurance).

If I were Obama or Biden, I would tell the other guy (or gal) that the American worker (Labor), thanks to the Democrat party, is fundamentally strong but because of the Republicans who hold most of the country’s Land and Capital, the economy is now in shambles. And since two of the three factors of economic production are now in crisis, the economic fundamentals can in no way be said to be strong.

Besides, just by taking a look at the FUNDAMENTALS of the economy, as indicated by the figures on Unemployment, Inflation, GDP, growth rate, national income, budget deficits, etc., one can easily conclude that the US economic fundamentals are NOT strong.

McCAIN, THE MAVERICK REFORMER

Calling oneself a maverick or a reformer does not make one a maverick or reformer. Obama again and again described to everyone that the records show that McCain supported George Bush 90% of the time. He was a “maverick” only 10 % of the time.

Now that there’s a financial crisis, the self-proclaimed Maverick and Reformer has shown to one and all that all he could do was support the Bush bail-out plan and the Obama-led Senate’s modified bail-out plan.

If he was truly a maverick and a reformer, he would have presented his own plan and attack the very much flawed bail-out plan which go against the grain of Republican ideals and the good of the common folk.

If I were him, I would attack the plan, point out all its deficiencies, play on the people’s instinctive mistrust of the plan and present my own plan that would help first the people and not the Wall Street tycoons.

Unfortunately for Mr. McCain, he simply has to follow the dictates of his rich supporters like the Wall Street lobbyists.

PALIN THE GREAT

McCain and his advisers had the gall to insult the intelligence of the American people. By getting a woman as his VP nominee, he claims that he is already doing the greatest deal for women since they won the right to vote.

McCain and his advisers must believe that Senator Hilary Clinton got so much votes during the primary because she is a woman. It did not matter that Hilary was an intelligent lawyer, a former first Lady, a very popular senator from New York, and has quite a large and well-organized machinery. How in the world could McCain and his supporters compare Sarah Palin with Hilary Clinton.

In fact, McCain said Palin was one of the greatest VP nominees ever. Really!? She is in the league of John Adams, LBJ, Al Gore and George Bush, Sr.

The spin doctors thought that by calling Palin great, people will actually believe the propaganda.

What is worse is that from the moment Palin was introduced to the world during the Republican convention, any criticism aimed at Palin is labeled as sexist by the Republicans and their media supporters. Wow! Palin can throw any attacks against her foes, but no one can attack her lest he be called sexist.

Fortunately, Palin undid herself with her interview with Kate Couric of CBS Evening News. The spin doctors and their cohorts in media could not do enough damage control.

BIDEN-PALIN DEBATE

The spinmeisters knew that it would take a miracle for Palin to win over Biden in a debate. So they began their spin. First, expectation for Palin was lowered to almost zero so that if she just shows up, the supporters could already call it a victory. Second, Biden was not supposed to show his intellectual superiority over Palin or he’ll be called a bully or patronizing or sexist or simply, a dirty old man.

It is the very first debate in the world where one of the participants (Biden) is not supposed to show his best. If he showers Palin with intelligent, substantive arguments, he would be called a smug snob or too professorial or ‘senatorial’ or even patronizing. If he would use witticisms or sarcasms, he would be accused as condescending or sexist or bully.

It was like a boxing match between say, Muhammad Ali and a lightweight where Ali would not be allowed to dance around the ring and throw his lightning-fast jabs. Plus, Ali would have to wear heavily padded gloves so the punches would not hurt the opponent much but the lightweight could use thinly padded gloves to give his punches more power.

At any rate, the debate went as expected – no fireworks – with Biden showing off his intellectual superiority in the most subtle way and Palin simply repeating her and McCain’s previous statements.

And after the debate, the spinmeisters continued their work.

Palin went to meet her supporters and she was greeted as if she won a great debate.

Many media people took the line of the spin doctors and were proclaiming the debate a “draw”.

In a CNN segment, anchor and correspondent Jonathan Mann reported that according to a CNN poll, 51 % of the people surveyed thought that Biden won the debate while only 36 % gave Palin their vote. Mann then said that more people thought that Palin did better than expected than those who thought that Biden did better than expected. And so, Jonathan Mann concluded that IT WAS A DRAW!

Was Jonathan Mann joking or did he simply believe the spin doctors or is he spinning it himself? Clearly, 51-36 score cannot be called a draw, in whatever game. And most people expected much out of Biden because he is a long-time senator, very much in the national scene for a long time and he vied to be their party’s presidential nominee at least twice. The fact that so many people said he was better than expected means a double victory for him. And after the Kate Couric debacle and the media spin, almost everybody had almost zero expectation from Palin. But the fact that more people thought Palin outdid herself than those who thought Biden outdid himself is NOT the same as saying that Palin was better than Biden in the debate. Not by a long shot.

Once upon a time, when two individuals engage in a debate, the viewers or audience can immediately judge the winner or loser. But with today’s technology, the loser can still emerge as the winner.

Any intelligent and objective spectator could easily determine that Obama gave the much stronger arguments during the debate.

But nowadays, the debaters’ spinmeisters can easily spin half-truths and non sequiturs and let their media people disseminate them to the public as soon as the debate is over.

So-called analysts and “experts” as well as media personalities then add to the yarns of the spin doctors.

Fortunately, there are the poll takers who take the pulse of ordinary citizens.

OBAMA’S CLEAR SUPERIORITY

Immediately after the debate, CNN’s panel of experts gave their views. Most were trying to be neutral but the clear impression one got was Obama won the debate.

This was confirmed by the surveys done on the viewers.

But as the hours went on, news programs on CNN, BBC and other networks tried to give the impression that the debate was a tie or that McCain won.

The newspapers’ pundits refused to name the winner.

Fortunately for everyone, the numbers in the polls are crystal clear – Obama won.

GALLUP TRACKING POLL

Despite the very clear numbers, others still won’t give credit to Obama.

At the CNN for example, an analyst explained that the Gallup tracking poll which showed Obama leading McCain 49% – 44% on 26 Sept was due to the financial crisis. And even though the poll showed Obama increase his lead over McCain 50% – 42% on 27 and 28 Sept, the analyst claimed that Obama did not really gain any points in the debate.

How in the world can that analyst say those conclusions with a straight face is mind boggling, especially since the anchor did not even question it. Obama gained 3 percentage points! Is 50-42 the same as 49-44? How then could he say that the debate did not help Obama’s popularity / credibility at all?

THE NUMBERS VS THE EXPERTS

Immediately after the debates, many so-called experts claimed that the debate was a dead heat. They claimed that although Obama was better in the economy issues, McCain was better in the security issues.

Really? It is on video tape that Henry Kissinger said “NO PRECONDITIONS” in meeting with Iranian leaders. McCain said Kissinger said no such thing. Obama rightly pointed out that while McCain insists on preconditions, his adviser, Mr. Kissinger as well as other former Secretaries of State, declared that they would meet with leaders of perceived enemy states without preconditions.

It was a good thing that Amanpour, who hosted the interview with the Secretaries of State was at the CNN studio panel during the debates and she verified that Kissinger said no preconditions.

Analysts after analysts in CNN, BBC and other networks tried (and are still trying) to give the impression that the debate either was even or that McCain won the security issue arguments.

Fortunately, the numbers are against these media spinmeisters. All polls after the debate all showed Obama won hands down, in all categories.

BIDEN VS PALIN

I wonder what the spinmeisters will do for the Biden – Palin debate. Well, I’ll just wait for Tina Fey’s re-enactments on Saturday Night Live.